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8 Tips To Create A Strong Password

Discloser: I am a brand ambassador with F-Secure and am being compensated for this post. For more information please read our Discloser Policy.

More and more we are hearing about accounts being hacked. It is a scary world we live in when our personal information is available to he right dishonest person. Before I started working with F-Secure, I really did not give it too much thought. I mean, who would really want to hack my stuff? Now I am not so sure about how safe I am on my own. Even worse is coming to the realization that I have been ignoring all the advice I was always given about choosing my password. Ask your self, do you know your Facebook password off the top of your head? How about your banking password? We are all guilty. We either pick something so easy that we will remember it, or we rely on our devises autofill and cookies to remember it for us!

I have learned so much from F-Secure. Here are some of the biggest eye openers for me:

Create a new email address for online accounts, Don’t share it with ANYONE. Just use it as a log in, a database. So smart, and yet, we don’t do it. With out the log in, how can someone even try to get your password?

Avoid using the common passwords. Here is a list:

Just plain don’t use them. I know for a fact that some people I know are guilty of this one.

Use unique passwords. Make it strong

Use 8 or more characters

Create a a simple, easy-to-remember system that lets you create many passwords with little effort. For example create a BASE/PIN. Combine the BASE and PIN to create a unique password for a site.

The BASE aMa229

Identifies the site (e.g., Amazon). It’s different for each site and can be written down somewhere.

The PIN

A short sequence that always stays the same. Memorize this. Do not share it!

Mix character types. Many sites now demand a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers & special characters

Recognize that not every account is equal. Which is worse, having someone get into your Twitter account, or you financial accounts? If you are using the same passwords for everything, then if you loose one, you may loose them all.

Great Tips. My work passwords expire every 1-2 months so I am always changing them, but like you suggested I have the same “base” and just change around some of the stuff around the base. I started doing that with all my other passwords.Diane recently posted..Do You Plan On Shopping Online This Holiday Season?